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Blackpool SLO column: Looking back at the old and ahead to the new as League One kicks off Blackpool SLO Steve Rowland returns with his first monthly column of the new season. There’s always a special sense of excitement and expectation as we return in numbers to Bloomfield Road for the first competitive home game of a new season, writes STEVE ROWLAND. We’ll meet up with friends we possibly haven’t seen since May. The stadium is looking great, with lots more tangerine in evidence this time. The pitch is in top condition, surely the greenest grass in all of Lancashire despite the heatwaves we’ve had: well done groundstaff. There’s that spine-tingling sense of a fresh start and everything to play for as the campaign kicks off. Football is back. We also have new LED floodlights - not that they’ll be needed tomorrow afternoon - and a new state-of-the-art PA system, which should make a huge difference inside the bowl, not to mention summer signings who will be hoping to make a good impression and help the squad to kick on from where we finished last time. This season will be special in another way as well. It’s the 125th anniversary of our first full league campaign (1901/1902) at Bloomfield Road. Did you know that it was originally called Gamble’s Field and was the home of South Shore FC until they merged with Blackpool FC back in late Victorian times? The ground was then renamed after the road on which it stands today. We will be commemorating our remarkable history at Bloomfield Road in a number of ways over the coming months. Working with the BFC volunteers in the stadium during the close season, I met someone whose great-grandfather played for the Pool in the 1900s. Fascinating. When you take your place at Bloomfield Road on a Saturday afternoon or Tuesday evening, as fellow poet and Blackpool fan Nathan Parker says: “It’s more than a seat, more than a football ground, it’s a home…” Let’s treat it like that and treasure it, Seasiders, as we celebrate past glories and build new memories. Read in that a coded request to all fans to please help the stadium volunteers keep the place tidy by putting your litter in the bags provided as you leave - and not on the floor under your seats. Subscribe now for HALF PRICE and catch every minute of our Seasiders coverage this season - from pre-season to the final whistle. click here Back in 1901, it took us until October to record a first home win in what was then the old division two; playing the likes of Burslem (Port Vale), Newton Heath (before they became Manchester United), Leicester Fosse, and Woolwich Arsenal in front of average crowds of 3,000. Although tomorrow’s visitors, Wycombe Wanderers, were formed in the same year as Blackpool (1887), they didn’t gain league status until the 1980s. Of course we’ll be hoping for a win over the latecomers, to follow on from our Carabao Cup success at Grimsby Town last Saturday. Your support as fans was terrific through some very dodgy times during last season and was instrumental in helping us stay up. Let’s build on that and show the same love and passion tomorrow afternoon by getting Bloomfield Road rocking again. Given it is the first match of the season, maybe plan to arrive at the stadium in good time to avoid delays from possible ticketing issues. See you there. UTMP!